Afelia (Pork In Red Wine With Dried Coriander Seeds)

December Cuisine Spotlight : Holidays Around The World, is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I've made Tessa Kiros's, Afelia, a traditional Cypriot dish, which I think is perfect for any festive holidays or simply anytime of the year. 

Pork is marinated, soaked in red wine for a few hours, then braised with garlic, generous amount of cracked coriander seeds, bay leaf, and seasoned with salt and pepper. 

Tessa says Afelia is usually served with fried potatoes, bulgur wheat or a simple white pilaf. 

I wanted to eat the Afelia with rice, so I've made a simple rice pilaf, Rice With Butter And Lemon, another of Tessa Kiros's recipe, from the same book. Potatoes are our favourite, so I made some fried potatoes seasoned with salt and black pepper. Of course, we need our greens, so french beans sauteed with lots of crispy chopped garlic complete the set.

This Afelia dish is delicious. The pork is soft and tender, very flavourful from the red wine and coriander seeds.  This dish is wonderful with the fried potatoes, the rice pilaf, and the greens. A complete satisfying meal!

Afelia (Pork in Red Wine With Dried Coriander Seeds)
(Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros)
1.3kg boned shoulder of pork with some fat, sliced into 3/4 inch thick
2 cups (500ml) good red wine
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed a bit
5 heaped teaspoons of coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 or 2 bay leaves

If there is rind on the pork, remove this and any excess fat. Cut the pork into chunks of about 2 inches. Put in a bowl with the wine and leave to marinate overnight, or for a few hours in the fridge. Lift out the pork pieces with a slotted spoon (keeping the marinade) and pat dry with kitchen paper. (I drained the pork pieces in a colander in a single layer for 5 minutes).

Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the pork until it is dark golden on all sides. Season with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and coriander.  Continue cooking until you can smell the garlic and then add the marinade with the bay leaves and about 1 cup of water. When it begins to boil, lower the heat to a minimum, cover and simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, or until the pork is very tender and there is a fair amount of sauce in the pan. If necessary, add a little more water during cooking. Serve warm.

Rice With Butter and Lemon
(Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros)
30-40gm butter
1 long strip of lemon rind
400gm basmati rice

Put the butter, lemon rind, a pinch of salt and 1 litre (4 cups) water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes. Rinse the rice a few times with cold water, drain and add to the pan. Stir through once and then leave the rice. When it comes back to the boil, lower the heat to a high simmer and cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, until the rice seems dry and there are lots of holes in the surface. Don't stir the rice at all. Remove from the heat, fluff up from the bottom upwards with a fork and transfer gently to your serving bol.
(I cook the rice in the rice cooker ; boil the lemon rind and water in a pot on the stove. Place the washed basmati rice in the rice cooker, add the butter, and pour the hot lemon water into the rice cooker pot. Cook as per the rice cooker instructions).


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I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC)
Cookbook Countdown #48

Salt & Balsamic Vinegar Sauteed Potatoes

It is the monthly cuisine spotlight week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC),  and the spotlight is on ITALIAN ! There are 19 IHCC featured chefs' recipes to choose from, and I've made Tessa Kiros's, Salt & Balsamic Vinegar Sauteed Potatoes, recipe from her book, Recipes and Dreams From An Italian Life.

An easy potato dish which is cooked on the stove top. If you like balsamic vinegar, then you would love this. I've added a few more extra garlic, because we love garlic. A delicious plate of potatoes, Yum!

Salt & Balsamic Vinegar Sauteed Potatoes
(Recipes and Dreams From An Italian Life, Tessa Kiros)
serves 6
some coarse salt
2-1/4 pounds potatoes
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole medium clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs rosemary, plus extra, to serve (optional)
freshly ground black pepper

In a mortar, crush some coarse salt with a pestle to break it down a bit, but still leave some texture. Peel the potatoes, rinse them, halve lengthwise and cut into gondolas. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet that has a lid. Add the potatoes and garlic and saute over a fairly high heat, turning through and tossing until they have a bit of colour and are starting to stick. Season with some of the crushed salt and a little pepper. Add half the vinegar and turn through. Sit the rosemary sprigs on top, cover with a lid and lower the heat.

Simmer for about 15 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender and much of the vinegar seems to have been absorbed. Add the rest of the vinegar, stir and cook, uncovered now, for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and crisping up just a bit and most of the liquid has reduced. Sprinkle with a little extra salt and serve hot with a couple of extra rosemary sprigs on top if you like. These are also surprisingly good at room temperature.

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I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC)

Cookbook Countdown #45

Boiled Potato Salad

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. We can cook any recipes from any of the 19 chefs previously featured at IHCC. I've made Tessa Kiros's simple, easy and delicious potato side dish.

I always have potatoes in my pantry basket. We love potatoes, any way they are cooked. Baked, roast, boiled, braised, mashed, fried, these humble potatoes would be the first ones to disappear most of the time. 

My changes/substitutes :

~ replace the parsley with fresh coriander leaves

~ use only the juice from 1/4 lemon, instead of 1-1/2 lemons

This easy and simple potato salad makes a great dish to any meal. We had the salad with some fried chicken drumettes and broccoli. Yum!

Boiled Potato Salad
(Falling Cloudberries, Tessa Kiros)
serves 8 as a side dish

1 red onion, very thinly sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1.5kg waxy potatoes

3 tablespoons drained baby capers

30gm (1/2 cup) chopped parsley

juice of 1-1/2 lemons

100gm (bout 1/2 cup) good-quality black olives

125ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil

Put the onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water and the salt. Leave for 30 minutes or so (while you prepare the potatoes). The soaking is important and will give your onions a softer taste in the finished dish and make them ore digestible.

Scrub the potatoes and boil in salted water for about 20-25 minutes until they are cooked but not falling apart. Drain well, then peel them when they have cooled a little - it is easier to do this if they are still warm. Cut them into chunks the size that you would like to see in your salad bowl.

Rinse the onion and drain well, patting it dry with kitchen paper if necessary. Add to the potato with the remaining ingredients, seasoning with pepper and probably with a little extra salt. Mix through gently and serve warm or at room temperature. If you make this in advance, the potatoes will soak up some of the oil as they cool, so you will have less dressing. You could save a little of the oil and add it closer to the serving time, if more is needed.

This post is linked to :
I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC)
Cookbook Countdown #40

Spaghettini With Egg & Toasted Parsley Breadcrumbs

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), it's March Monthly Featured Ingredient Challenge : Pasta. I've made one of Tessa Kiros's pasta recipe, from the book Tessa Kiros : The Recipe Collection. Spaghettini With Egg & Toasted Parsley Breadcrumbs recipe can also be found in her book Apples For Jam.

This is a simple and quick pasta meal to prepare. I made this for a weekday lunch and it is a very filling meal. For the breadcrumbs, I've used dried breadcrumbs instead of soft white bread. And have used cilantro leaves instead of parsley. Makes a nice lunch, and my son likes it.

Spaghettini With Egg & Toasted Parsley Breadcrumbs
(Tessa Kiros - The Recipe Collection, & from Apples For Jam)
Serves 4
4 eggs, at room temperature
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve
300gm (10-1/2 oz) spaghettini
60gm (2-1/4 oz) soft white bread, broken up into coarse crumbs
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the eggs and boil for 4 minutes. Fish out the eggs with a slotted spoon, run under cold water and peel off the shells. Put the eggs in a large serving bowl and mash up into small bits with a fork. Add a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil and a little salt. (At the end of 4 minutes, the egg yolks are still runny, so I boil a couple of eggs more a little longer, about 7 minutes).

Add the spaghettini to the boiling water and cook, following the packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan, then add the breadcrumbs, anchovies and garlic and saute over medium heat until the breadcrumbs are golden and crisp. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley and lemon zest.

Drain the spaghettini, keeping some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the egg with a few spoonfuls of the cooking water. Toss through very well and serve immediately. Drizzle each serving with some olive oil and scatter parsley breadcrumbs over the top. Pass around the Parmesan, and some black pepper for those who like it.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

March Monthly Featured Ingredient Challenge : Pasta

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #15 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Chocolate Loaf

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For this week, I've made Tessa Kiros's Chocolate Loaf. This is not a cake, but a chocolate yeasted bread, a recipe from her cookbook, Apples For Jam, of which I did not have the pleasure of owning it yet! This recipe however can be found in another book of Tessa's, "Tessa Kiros - The Recipe Collection", which I bought almost a year ago. This book is a collection of selected recipes from five of her best-selling cookbooks ; Falling Cloudberries, Apples For Jam, Piri Piri Starfish, Venezia and Food From Many Greek Kitchens.

A basic straight forward bread to make. I use the stand mixer to knead the dough. I have used instant yeast to replace fresh yeast, using half the weight of fresh yeast. And since it is instant yeast, I whisk the yeast into the warm milk to dissolve and proceed with the recipe, without having to wait for the yeast to foam, if fresh yeast or active yeast is used. This bread is baked in a 12 x 4-1/2 inch loaf tin. I've used my pullman loaf pan of that size, and the baked bread turns out not really high. To get a taller loaf, I would use a smaller pan the next time.

The loaf turns out wonderful with moist and soft crumbs. Surprisingly, this bread has that bitterness of the cocoa powder, but in a very nice "cocoa-y" taste. You would want to eat slices of these bread , either plain or toasted, with some sweet jam. I had mine, spread with one of my favourite jam, Lemon and Lime Marmalade from Marks & Spencer. Makes a lovely breakfast with a morning cuppa.

Chocolate Loaf
(adapted from Tessa Kiros - The Recipe Collection)
Makes 1 loaf
15gm (1/2 oz) fresh yeast (I use 7gm instant yeast)
40gm (1-1/2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
310ml (10-3/4 fl oz/1-1/4 cups) milk
400gm (14 oz) bread (strong) flour or plain (all purpose) flour
40gm (1-1/2 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
40gm (1-1/2 oz) butter, melted

Crumble the yeast into a large bowl and add the sugar. Gently heat the milk in a small saucepan until it feels just a bit hotter than your finger, then add it to the yeast. Stir through and leave for 10 minutes or so, until the surface starts to turn spongy. (I added the instant yeast to the milk, stir to dissolve and proceed to add the rest of the ingredients). Add the flour, cocoa powder, butter and a pinch of salt and mix it well. Knead with your hands for about 6 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic with no lumps. (I use the stand mixer with the dough hook to knead the dough for about 10 minutes). If your dough is very soft, leave it in the bowl and just punch it around and squeeze it with one hand, holding the bowl with the other. Cover the bowl with a heavy tea towel and leave it in a warm and draught-free place for 1-1/2 to 2 hours until it has puffed right up. Butter and flour a 30x11 cm (12x4-1/2 inch) loaf (bar) tin.

Knock the dough down to flatten it and shape it to the size of the tin. Drop it in, cover the tin with the tea towel and leave it again in a warm place for anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour, until the dough has puffed up over the rim of the tin. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4).

Remove the tea towel and bake the loaf for about 25 minutes, or until the top is firm and the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Tip out onto a rack to cool. Once it has cooled down completely, this loaf can be frozen (even just a chunk of it) in a plastic bag and saved for another moment in time.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

February 2017 Potluck

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #14 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Lemon Ice Cream

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), it is our Monthly Featured Dish/Ingredient Challenge, and for this month it is Lemons! or any citrus. We may select any recipe that uses lemon or citrus from any of our past or present featured chefs. I've made Tessa Kiros's, Lemon Ice Cream, from her beautiful book "Falling Cloudberries". There are fifteen featured chefs at IHCC, and Tessa Kiros is easily in the top three of my favourite chefs. 

Tessa Kiros's Lemon Ice Cream recipe uses fresh sage leaves. I, however, have forgotten to buy sage leaves and I'm not about to make a trip to the supermarket again as it was already late in the evening. So I use fresh pandanus (screwpine) leaves, which I have a healthy bush growing at my backyard. Pandanus leaves are extremely fragrant and we use it a lot in sweet desserts and savoury dishes. 

I snipped the pandanus leaves to small pieces and boil together with the whipping cream, lemon zest and sugar. Once the mixture comes to a boil, and the sugar has completely dissolved, remove from heat, and leave to cool. The pandan leaves would fill your kitchen with it's wonderful fragrance. Once cooled, I remove the pandanus leaves with a pair of chopsticks which is rather easy and quick. I did not strain the mixture over a sieve as I want the lemon zest in the ice cream. Whisk in the lemon juice, the mixture will curdle and thicken a little, but keep whisking and it will come together, chill in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, I churn the mixture in the ice cream machine.

I did change a little of the steps in the recipe, making it a little easier and simpler for me. Refer to the recipe instructions (below) for the changes I've made (as above). Sugar is reduced to half and the sweetness was just right for us.

This creamy Lemon Ice Cream is so yummy! The fragrance of the pandan and the lemony taste of the lemon zest and juice, blends perfectly together. If you have not tried using pandanus leaves in your dessert making, I urge you to try and get some, you will love it's heady fragrance aroma.

Lemon Ice Cream
(Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros)
serves 4
500ml (2 cups) pouring (single) cream (whipping cream)
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon finely chopped sage leaves **
160gm (2/3) cup caster (superfine) sugar (1/3 cup)

** I replaced the sage leaves with pandanus leaves (screwpine leaves). I used 2 long leaves, snipped to small pieces.

Put the cream, lemon rind and sage (pandanus leaves snipped to small pieces) in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Set aside to cool and infuse the lemon and sage (pandanus) flavours into the cream.

Meanwhile, whisk the sugar with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the cream mixture until the sugar dissolves. (I added the sugar to the cream, in the first step, allowing it to boil together). Add the remaining cream mixture and whisk well for a couple of minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and put in the freezer. (Remove the pandanus leaves, whisk in the lemon juice and chill the mixture overnight, covered, in the refrigerator).

After an hour, remove the bowl from the freezer, give an energetic whisk with a hand whisk or electric mixer and return the bowl to the freeser. Whisk again after another couple of hours. When it is nearly firm, give one last whisk, transfer to a suitable freezing container with a lid and let it set in the freezer until it is firm. (I skipped these steps, and use the ice cream machine to churn the mixture the next morning).

Alternatively, pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and freeze, following the manufacturer's instructions.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

January Monthly Featured Dish/Ingredients Challenge : Lemons!

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #13 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Oven-Baked Fish with Tomato and Parsley

It's "August Potluck!" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). We are free to select from any of IHCC's past and present featured chefs, and there are 14 chefs to choose from. Going through those chefs' books on my bookshelf, I chose Tessa Kiros's cookbook, Falling Cloudberries, a gorgeous book with many recipes that I want to try!

I've selected an oven-baked fish dish, which is so easy and fuss-free. In the recipe, Tessa uses white fish fillet, cut into 2-1/2 inch pieces. I have however used four slices of snapper, leaving it whole. Place the fish slices in a baking dish in a single layer. The rest of the ingredients ; canned chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, minced garlic, chopped celery, lemon juice, sugar, olive oil are mixed together and season with salt and pepper. I have used cilantro instead of parlsey and have used much more than the recipe calls for. Pour the mixture over the fish, cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the heat and bake for another 40-50 minutes (I bake for 30 minutes).

The sauce is bubbling in the oven, looks so yummy.

Serve hot. We had it with rice, along with Stir-Fried Sugar Snaps with Garlic for a weeknight dinner. The fish is very soft and the tomato-parsley sauce is very tasty, very nice spoon over rice. As suggested by Tessa, some crusty bread would be lovely to mop up the juices.

Oven-Baked Fish with Tomato and Parsley
(adapted from "Falling Cloudberries", by Tessa Kiros)
1kg (2lb 4oz) firm white fish fillets, cut into 6cm (2-1/2inch) pieces
400gm (14oz) tin tomatoes with juice, chopped (or very ripe tomatoes peeled and chopped)
15gm (1/4 cup) chopped parsley (I've used cilantro)
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
juice of 2 lemons (I've used juice of 1 lemon)
2 celery stalks, chopped with some leaves
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
crusty bread, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4)
Put the fish in an oven dish where they will fit in a single layer. Mix together the tomatoes, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, sugar and olive oil and taste for seasoning. Pour over the fish to cover all the pieces, shaking the dish from side to side. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
Remove the aluminium foil, increase the heat to 200C (400f/Gas ) and bake for another 40-50 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened and the top of the fish is golden in a couple of places.
Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week,

"August Potluck"!

Pan-Fried Fish With Vinegar

Over at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), this week's theme is "February Featured Chef : Tessa Kiros". I've made one of Tessa's fish recipe which I have been wanting to try for ages. 

Tessa's Pan-Fried Fish With Vinegar is a delicious dish. I've used golden pomfret, one of our favourite fish, good either steamed or fried. For this dish, the fish is rubbed with some salt and a little flour on both sides, pan-fry in olive oil on both sides till golden, adding the garlic, bay leave and half the chopped rosemary about halfway through. White wine vinegar is added the pan, it will sizzle, letting it boil for a few minutes, spooning some of the sauce over the fish a few times, until the sauce has reduced a little. Add the rest of the rosemary and some black pepper. Serve immediately.

Tessa says to serve the rosemary-garlic oil with bread. But we had it with rice. It was delicious.


Pan-Fried Fish With Vinegar
(adapted from "Piri piri Starfish", Tessa Kiros)
2 baby fish (each about 300gm/10oz), cleaned, gutted and scaled
a little flour
125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
coarse salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed a bit
2 bay leaves
2-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine vinegar

Pat the fish dry, salt well, then pat in flour on both sides. Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold both fish. When hot, add the fish and cook for a few minutes over high heat until golden underneath. Turn over and salt.

Add the garlic and bay and throw in almost half the rosemary. Cook again until the fish is golden underneath. Turn over carefully, taking care not to break the fish, and salt the new topside. The heat should still be high, so sit the garlic and bay on top of the fish if necessary. Add the vinegar and let it bubble for 5 minutes or so until thickened a little. Add the rest of the rosemary and some black pepper and spoon the liquid over the fish a few times. There should be lots of sauce for serving and the fish will be cooked through.

Take the whole pan to the table (with a plate for the bones). The rosemary garlic oil is delicious scraped from the bottom of the pan with chips or bread.

I'm linking this post with IHCC, theme for this week, "February Featured Chef : Tessa Kiros"

Baked Butter Rice and Chicken with Peas

"May Potluck", it's potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). I've made two dishes from Tessa Kiros's recipes, and one from Nigel Slater. Well, actually, this meal was made a few weeks ago, when I made Nigel Slater's, Spiced Roast Potatoes with Yoghurt and Mint.  I've also made Tessa Kiros's, Baked Butter Rice and another dish, Chicken with Peas, and served with Nigel's potato dish.

Our dinner

Baked Butter Rice

According to Tessa "This can be dressed up or down as much as you like, but I love this stress-free baked rice. You can put it in the oven and go out for a walk, unlike the more usual stovetop rice that needs a touch more vigilance. It's lovely with anything that calls for white; chicken with peas, cozido, grilled chicken, tomato chilli prawns and so on. You can easily add some extra bits to take on the flavour of the meal - some fresh coriander chopped in at the end, chilli or whatever".

Just like Tessa says, this rice is really easy to cook, once the ingredients are sauteed and bring to boil, cover the pot and bake the rice in the oven for 40-45 minutes, and by then, you would have lovely, fragrant fluffy rice. I have however used Basmati rice, which works out great. And have followed Tessa's suggestion to serve with one of the dishes she mentioned above (all of which can be found in her lovely book), Chicken with Peas. But then, this rice is great served with just any dish. I would definitely cook this Baked Butter Rice again, and would add on some chopped corianders, or parlsey, to take on on the flavour of the meal, as advised by Tessa.

Chicken with Peas

According to Tessa, "This is an easy, one-pot dish that you can make beforehand, turn off the heat and serve when you're ready. I chop the onion, celery and carrot roughly in a mixer, but not too small please. This is lovely with baked butter rice, or plain boiled potatoes".

This is a tasty dish, but mine is a little oily towards the end of cooking time. The chourizo and bacon did release some oil during sauteing. This is a tasty dish. I can actually taste both the chourizo and the bacon in the chicken meat. The chicken thighs really soaked up the flavours from both the chourizo and the bacon. I have used only half the amount of peas, as my kids are not really keen on peas. The family did enjoy this chicken dish.

My potluck meal, Spiced Roast Potatoes with Yoghurt and Mint (Nigel Slater), Baked Butter Rice and Chicken with Peas

Baked Butter Rice
(adapted from "Piri Piri Starfish....Portugal Found", Tessa Kiros)
serves 4-6
50gm (1-3/4 oz butter)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 dried bay leaves
250gm (1-1/2 cups) parboiled variety of rice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 pinches of paprika
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4).

Heat the butter and oil in a flameproof casserole. (Tessa uses her cast-iron one) and saute the onion with the bay leaves until softened and sticky. Add the rice, garlic and paprika and stir the rice well so it soaks up all the flavours.

Add the stock and season, if necessary. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and put in the oven. Cook for 40-45 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Take out of the oven and leave for a few minutes before fluffing with a fork to serve.

(I used 2 cups of basmati rice, washed, soak in water for 20 minutes, drain and cook, as above, using 3-1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock)

Chicken with Peas
(adapted from "Piri Piri Starfish...Portugal Found", Tessa Kiros)
Serves 4-6
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
30gm (1oz) chourizo sausage, thinly sliced
60gm (2oz) unsmoked bacon or pancetta in one thickish slice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 chicken, skinned and cut up into 10-12 pieces
250ml (1 cup) white wine
3 tablespoons roughly chopped tinned tomatoes (or 1 large very ripe tomato, peeled and chopped)
600gm (1lb 5oz) peas, fresh or thawed frozen

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and bay leaves and saute until the onion is golden. Add the chourico and bacon and cook for a bit longer. Add the parsley and chicken and saute for a good few minutes until the chicken too is golden. Turn now and then so that nothing sticks and burns. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the wine and let it bubble up for a minute or two, then stir in the tomato. Tip out into a large heavy casserole dish (because later on the peas won't all fit in the frying pan), cover and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat.

Take the lid off, add the peas, turn up the heat a bit and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the peas are just tender and still green. There will still be some liquid in the dish.

Taste for seasoning, turn off the heat and leave uncovered (the peas will still be absorbing some of the liquid) until you serve, with bread, potatoes, rice or whatever you like.

I'm linking this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). 

and 

Cook-Your-Books #12 @ Kitchen Flavours

Peas with Eggs and Chourico

It's "January Potluck" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For this potluck week, we are given the choice to cook from any of our featured chefs' recipes. I have chosen to cook from Tessa Kiros for this week, a simple and delicious egg dish that I had for lunch.

There are only a few ingredients, green peas, chorizo sausage, garlic, onion, chopped parsley and egg. Really easy and quick to make, takes less than 30 minutes!

This dish may look very simple, but it is delicious! Firstly the onions are sauteed until brown and sticky, then the chorizo sausage, garlic and parsely are added in, stir for a couple of minutes until "it looks good", that's what Tessa Kiros says, well, I was wondering about that, but you will know it when it looks good, cause it WILL look good, and smells good too (the chorizo sausage!). The garlic clove is removed at this point, you may keep it aside to eat later. Peas are added in and season with some salt. Some water is added in, though I have used a lesser amount of water, and not the entire 1/2 cup (I made half a recipe for one serving). The peas are left to simmer for about 10 minutes until cooked but still have that nice bright green colour. By now the dish would have become almost dry, but still with a little moist to it. Make a space in the centre of the pan, pushing the peas to the side, and crack in an egg. Cover and let the egg cook, until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft. Serve with some sprinkling of sweet paprika over.

Lunch is ready! The peas are nice and tasty, they have absorbed the flavours from the chorizo sausages and the caramelized onions after the 10 minutes of braising. The chorizo sausage, of course is good! My daughter, who does not like green peas, finished half of what's on the plate!

The egg is yummy, with the white just set and the yolk runny, and with some sprinkling of sweet paprika, so good. I had this with some fried rice actually, and it goes really well with the rice. This dish would make a lovely one dish lunch.

Peas with Eggs and Chourico
(adapted from "Piri Piri Starfish", Tessa Kiros)
Serves 2
50gm (1-3/4 oz) chorico sausage
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and squashed a bit
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
400gm (14 oz) peas, fresh or thawed frozen
2 eggs
a little ground sweet paprika

Cut the chourico into thin slices (removing the casing if it seems thick), then in half and even into quarters (depending on its original size). Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and saute the onion until it is golden and sticky. Add the chourico, garlic clove and parsley and saute for a few minutes until it looks good, then add the peas and season well.

Mix together so the flavours meld and add a cup of hot water. Simmer over high heat for about 10 minutes, until the peas are soft but still bright green and have just about drunk up all the water. Remove the garlic.

Make two spaces in the peas with a wooden spoon towards the edge, big enough to fit an egg each. Crack the eggs into the holes, sprinkle with a little coarse salt and put a lid on the pan. Cook until there is a thin, pale film over the eggs and the whites are just set with the yolks quite soft. Serve at once with a sprinkling of paprika and pepper if you like.

CB5/14

To view what my friends are cooking up for our January Potluck, please do drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I'm linking this with :

Cook-Your-Books #8 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

Tomato Rice

I came to learn about Tessa Kiros through I Heart Cooking Clubs. I have never heard of her before that. Even though I've only tried a few of her recipes, all those recipes are really good. Her pasta recipe, Daniele's Tomato Pasta, is my kids' most favourite spaghetti, the one that they often asked for, the most. I have made about a dozen times since then. They call this dish, "Fresh Pasta", simply because there's no cooking involved, other than cooking the spaghetti till al dente, and tossing the pasta with the prepared mixture (made a few hours in advance to mingle the flavours), of cherry tomatoes, olive oil, capers, garlic, fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper. My daughter has brought this spaghetti dish to school a couple of times, always with an extra container packed, to share with her friends, as they loved it too! 

During the last month of cooking with Tessa, I have bought one of her books, Piri Piri Starfish, as it was on sale, and I was so happy to take it home, as her books are rather expensive. It is a beautiful book with recipes and anecdotes from her travels to Portugal. So far, I have tried only one recipe from the book and many more are bookmarked, yet never did find the time to try them out. This Tomato Rice was one of them. When I made Yotam Ottolenghi's Roasted Chicken with Chili and Basil, I was looking for some rice recipe that I could make to go with the chicken. And this Tomato Rice is just the one!

According to Tessa, this is a kind of "everywhere" dish, served alongside grilled prawns, flattened chickens or grilled fish, not usually meant to be in the leading role, but it's very good all the same. And if you like, some veggies can be added in, such as celery, zucchini and carrots, and even some herbs like rosemary. One word of advise from Tessa is to use really ripe tomatoes, otherwise use the canned ones, better than not-quite-ripe-enough tomatoes.

I have used ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, but have omitted the red capsicum as I have forgotten to buy it. Medium-grain rice is used, and I have used Calrose rice. Chopped onions are firstly sauteed in oil till golden, add the capsicum (if using), garlic, parsley and bay leaf, stir for a minute until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tomatoes, paprika, butter, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes, mashing the tomatoes with the spoon, leaving some visible chunks. Add the rice, stir to mix the flavours, and add 4 cups of water. I find that 4 cups is a little too much, I added in 3 cups at first and added in half a cup more during cooking when I feel that the rice needs it. Continue cooking as per the instructions in the recipe.

Just as Tessa describes, this Tomato Rice is not meant to be in the leading role, but it is good all the same. To me, it is very good! The family likes it. Perfect alongside the Roasted Chicken. Very tasty and I can see why ripe tomatoes are really important here. The caramelized onions are just so good, I can get bites of it in every spoonful. Next time I'll add on more chopped parsley. I could eat this Tomato Rice alone as a one-pot meal. Delicious. Another winner recipe from Tessa.

Tomato Rice
(adapted from "Piri piri Starfish", by Tessa Kiros)
Serves 4-6
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 small red pepper (capsicum), seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 small fresh bay leaf
4 very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or 400 gm/14 oz tin chopped tomatoes)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
20 gm (3/4 oz) butter
coarse salt
400 gm (2 cups) medium-grain rice (I use calrose rice)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion until sticky and golden. Add the pepper and cook until everything is jammy and turning golden. Add the garlic, parsley and bay leaf and, when you start to smell the garlic, add the tomatoes, paprika, butter, about 2 teaspoons of coarse salt and a little pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes, mashing up the tomatoes a bit but still leaving a few chunks.

Add the rice and turn it through well to mix in the flavours. Add 1 litre (4 cups) (I use only 3-1/2 cups) of water, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, checking that nothing is sticking. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice, cover and leave for 10 minutes before you serve. Fluff it through again - it should have absorbed most of the liquid and be just right, in which case serve immediately. If it's too firm, leave it covered for a while longer. Best hot, but also good at room temperature.

#96/100

I'm linking this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #4 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

And I'm sharing this post with :

Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace

Calamari with Lemon, Garlic and Piri-Piri

To submit to our Bake-Along : Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips, click here.

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It has been many months since I last cooked a Tessa Kiros dish, and I Heart Cooking Club is saying farewell to Tessa Kiros, this week being the last week that they are cooking from Tessa Kiros's recipes. There are many recipes of Tessa Kiros's that I have bookmarked to try, somehow time flies ever so fast, and without realizing it, 6 months of cooking with Tessa is already up! So for the final potluck, I have chosen this delicious calamari dish that I will be cooking again and again!

This dish is somewhat similar to our local Nyonya dish, where we use tamarind paste for the tinge of sourness and coriander leaves for the fragrance, here Tessa uses lemon juice, dried oregano and parsley. There's only one word to describe, YUMMY! We love it, the only thing that I regret when cooking this is, I only used about 500gm of squids, the next time I'm gonna double up the amount! 

I'm submitting this to I Heart Cooking Club, where this week's theme is "March Potluck! Goodbye Tessa, And Thank You". Definitely, this won't be the last dish of Tessa Kiros that I'll be trying. I have tried several of her recipes, and all are delicious! 

I Heart Cooking Club will be going all out with Mexican food with another chosen chef for the next six months, Rick Bayless. Please visit I Heart Cooking Club for more details.

Calamari with Lemon, Garlic and Piri-piri
(adapted from "Piri-piri Starfish" by Tessa Kiros)
400gm baby calamari
30gm butter
1 scant teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
a pinch of ground Piri-piri
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt to taste

1. To prepare the calamari, firmly pull the head and innards from the body and wash the body well. Cut off the head just below the eyes, leaving the tentacles in one piece if they're small. Discard the head, pull the transparent quill out of the body and rinse out the tube. Peel off the outer membrane and slice the tube into three or four rings.
2. Put the butter into a hot pan and heat until it sizzles. Add the oregano and cook for a moment until it smells good. Add the tubes and tentacles and cook on the highest heat until all the liquid evaporates. Sprinkle with salt and a little pepper and, when it's all turning golden, turn with a wooden spoon and scrape up any bits tuck to the pan.
3. Add the garlic and turn through until you start to smell it. Add the lemon juice and however much piri-piri you like. Let it bubble up, check the seasoning and stir in the parsley over the heat for just a moment longer. Add a touch more butter and lemon juice to the pan if you like more sauce. Serve hot in the pan with bread.

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The Home Bakers will officially start their first bake on 3rd April. To find out more about joining in and be a member, visit The Home Bakers for more details!!

Carrot Salad With Cardamon, Ginger And Lemon

For this week, I Heart Cooking Club, which is currently cooking from Tessa Kiros's recipes, theme is "Orange Skies". So, naturally I search for recipes with oranges as the ingredient. I did not want to bake any cakes or desserts, but wanted something savory instead.

While looking for recipes with oranges, I came across this Carrot Salad which sounds interesting with cardamon, ginger and lemon as the ingredients. And decided to give this a try instead. I have never tried carrots as the main ingredient in a salad before. It has always been ''one of the ingredients", along with other veggies.

The recipe calls for the carrots to be processed in a blender but not too fine as to keep some texture,  but I  grated the carrots instead, as I prefer to have more texture in my salad. This is a pretty simple and quick salad to put together. According to Tessa Kiros, this recipe is a friend of her mother's, who picked up this recipe in India. And this salad works well with spicy food.

Overall review : I like it. The sweetness of the carrots blends well with the spiciness of the cardamom, ginger and pepper, the tinge sourness of the lemon and the freshness from the mint leaves. Though I did not have this with any spicy food, yes, I think that it will complement well indeed with spicy meat dishes. I have some leftover which I kept in the fridge, and it tastes even better the next day!

To view other delightful yummies based on the theme "Orange Skies" hop over to I Heart Cooking Club.

Carrot Salad with Cardamom, Ginger and Lemon
(source from "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros)
Ingredients
1-1/4 pounds (about 8 medium) carrots
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
juice of 2 lemons
2/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
a pinch of white pepper
1-1/4 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped or grated
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
a small handful of fresh mint leaves, to serve


Put the carrots in a blender and pulse into small pieces (not too fine as you need to keep some texture). Transfer to a bowl, add the onion, and mix together well.
To make the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice, oil, salt, sugar, white pepper, ginger and cardamom. Add to the carrots and onion, toss well, and then chill for a few hours. Toss in a few mint leaves before serving.

Tessa's Sauteed Potatoes With Egg and Tomato Pasta

We had a lovely lunch a couple of days ago. Made a simple Sauteed Potatoes with Egg and a simple, flavourful Cherry Tomato Pasta. I Heart Cooking Club is currently cooking with Tessa Kiros's recipes. I have not heard of Tessa Kiros before this. No idea who she is! Well, now I do!

A simple and delicious lunch.

 Potatoes are boiled and pan-fried till brown and crispy.

An egg is cracked in the centre of the pan with the potatoes at the side. I use fresh thymes from my garden as I did not have any sage. Season with salt and pepper. Yum!

 A simple pasta with just cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, garlic, capers, olive oil and seasoning. The recipes calls for 12 Cherry Tomatoes, I tripled it, we love Cherry Tomatoes! And I only cooked half a packet of spaghetti.

 Makes sure this pasta dish is season well with salt and pepper.

A simple, yet delicious combination.  My kids love it! So do I!

I'm sharing this with
"November Potluck with Tessa" at I Heart Cooking Clubs
Hearth and Soul Hop at Mom's Sunday Cafe
Let's Do Brunch at The 21st Century Housewife's Kitchen


I got these recipes from various websites.

Sauteed Potatoes with Egg
(source from "Apples For Jam" by Tessa Kiros)
500gm potatoes peeled and cut into dice, and cooked till tender
2 tbsp olive oil
20gm butter
1 garlic cloves, peeled, but left whole (optional)
sage sprigs to taste (I use fresh thymes)
2 eggs
seasonings to taste

Heat the oil with the garlic to high in a frying pan, removing the garlic once it is aromatic and tip the potatoes in, spread them over the pan, including any little bits. Then leave them alone, don't turn them about at this stage, they will crisp up far better if just left to cook on one side.

Turn the bits of potatoes so that another side is crisped up, and then once again, until the potatoes are golden and crisp nearly all over. Make two spaces for the eggs and crack them in the centre. Sprinkle over the sage, which should crisp up beautifully. The egg too may crisp a little at the edges, which is how I like it here, season with salt and pepper. When the eggs are cooked to your liking, slide the eggs and the potatoes (which will be sticking together now) onto plates lined with paper towel. Leave for a moment before pulling the paper carefully out from under the food.

Daniele's Tomato Pasta
(source from  "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros)
Serves 3
12 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved (I use about 30-35)
about 30 baby salted capers, rinsed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed with the flat of a knife
about 8 fresh basil leaves, torn
3/4 (16-ounce) package spaghetti

Put all the ingredients except the spaghetti in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Leave for at least an hour if possible to let the flavours mingle. Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water, following the packet instructions. Drain and add to the tomato sauce, tossing well to coat the paste. Serve immediately with or without grated Parmesan.